We have had a lot of Pinesiskins at our feeders all winter long. But about 6 wks ago or so we started seeing them looking all puffed up like they were cold. Then we started finding dead one. I quickly went online to see what it could be. Salmonella! All of the symptoms pointed to that. They said it is spread threw poop dropings.I have been trying to keep my feeders as clean as possible. But I was lacking in the bird bath area. So I cleaned out the feeders and got a smaller bird bath and have been changing the water everyday. I have not put seed back in the feeders but along our deck railing and cement porch edging. But they still keep on dieing. :'( The article said that one infected bird can infect a lot of other ones. At first I thought it was that fungus that birds can get when you don't clean out your feeders. No such luck. So far I have found 9 dead pinesiskins and one red poll. :'( You are told to wear gloves when handleing the birds as you could get it also. Now this moring I see atleast 3 more pinesiskins that are looking puffed up. :'( At this rate they will all dead in a few weeks time. I am so bumbed out thinking that I may have been a contributor to their demise. :'( :'(
Have you contacted a local wildlife center or birding group to see if they have any information on what is killing them off? Sometimes they want to collect the bodies for medical tests to verify what the illness is in case there is something that they can do to stop it from spreading. We had a birds dropping dead problem in our area several years ago from Limes Disease. There were so many the animal control departments of all the cities were inundated with calls and couldn't keep up with picking them up for medical study..so they finally started telling people to put on gloves, but the bodies in plastic bags and bury them or put them in the trash.
This is sad, Tooty, You may want to check with your health dept, also. Ask them if they need to know? We are to inform them if we have things such as a dead bat in or around our house. Silly me, I threw the one I found in the basement away . They wanted it for testing. Oops. next time I will know better. But this could be a health hazard to children and they may want the information. Let us know.
I agree that you should be reporting all of the deaths and maybe asking them if you want to keep one if anymore die. West Nile could be striking early...It is very hard to keep feeders, etc. cleaned...I keep mine as clean as I can but I know none of the neighbors sanitize like I do. I hope everything settles down. I think your best solution would be to quit feeding for a week or so and taking all the feeders in for a while. Good Luck.
Toni I did contact our local wildlife center. It is to early around her for limes disease. All of the birds that have died are ones that had visited our feeder I'm pretty sure. Carolyn I think I will call them again and let them know that they are still dieing. Sherry8 I only have 4 close neighbors and I know none of them feed the birds. I have taken all the feeders down. Boy that was so hard to do as you feel sorry for the birds when they come flying in and all they find is an empty post where the feeder use to be. But I know it's for their own good.
I wouldn't be too hasty in blaming yourself Tooty. Pick up one of the dead birds (if you can make yourself do it) and wrap it in an airtight container and put it in your freezer. If the Health Department are worried that the birds may spread disease then they could use it to do an autopsy. The birds could be picking something up elsewhere before coming you. There could be something in surrounding gardens or fields (weedkillers or bug sprays for instance)that is poisoning them. I hope you find a solution to these deaths soon and that you can continue to feed the birds.
I wasn't suggesting that your birds had contracted Limes Disease, I just mentioned that my area had an outbreak of the disease years ago. Being at feeders is just one of many places they can come in contact with Salmonella. It's spread through their droppings so any place where they flock...roosting sites at night, watering holes, foraging through a field for seeds can be the point of contact. And that could include your neighbors yards even if they don't actively feed the birds, birds will still wander through grass areas looking for seeds,etc. But you really should contact someone about the deaths. Because unless and until they make a definite diagnosis the question of what is killing the birds is still a mystery. I read an article that an outbreak of Salmonella in wild birds is quite common about every 3-5 years.
Most farmers are preparing fields now for planting. If any have poisoned for moles or gophers that could be a possibility. But so could bad batch of birdseed, or contaminated stream, ( that could be if farmers are using weed killers like we are now) However our weed killer is used on pasture and doesn`t hurt birds because there is nothing to eat there. And just being around the weed killer will not kill a bird. So has to be something they ingested. If one sick bird ate at your feeder or water it could contaminate and transmit to other birds. Best thing to do is bleach the feeders (Soak at least 15 minutes in half cup bleach to 1 gal. water if possible) and air dry without rinsing the bleach off. Same for water dish. Wait about three days and refill. If birds are still dropping dead,, you are not the source. That mixture is pretty strong so it should take care of most commonly found problems.
Eileen: I just talked to the wildlife center and they confirmed what I had thought. They said that last year there was an outbreak of salmonella among pine siskins. I said well there is another outbreak out here. So sad. Thank you for the info. Toni I know you where not suggesting lymes was what was doing our birds in. As I posted above the wildlife center confirmed my diagnosis. It is so sad. I guess they could have picked it up somewhere else. But I still feel sad with them dieing around our place. Thank you for the info also. Mart I have taken down all the feeders and removed the bird bath also. I will definetely bleach them really good this week and then wait a week or more before I put them back out. Farmers are not a concern as we really don't have any close enough. It still is hard to see those little cuties suffering and dieing. Thanks everyone. :'( :'(
I know. I don`t like seeing any of them die but sometimes there isn`t anything we can do. Still sorry for it though.
Mart me to. Yesterday I found a dead Pine siskin and then this morning I found anotther one. So far the Siskins I have seen all look healthy. Praying really hard that they stay that way. This week should be the real test.
